He did however have similarly messianic aims – Reza’s long-distance trek was apparently part of an effort to run across 190 countries “to encourage world peace”.

“It’s almost biblical,” one of his backers, David Hyslop, told CNN before the attempt began. “But you gotta be a little crazy to undertake such an endeavour, right?”

“Unlike Jesus the man in question, Reza Baluchi, wasn’t walking on water unassisted…”

In fact, having run several ultra-marathons before, Reza was actually fairly well set up for the task. He’d previously run the 3,300 miles from New York to LA and his “hydro bubble” was equipped with food, a satellite phone and a distress beacon (which is how the Coast Guard found him).

Unfortunately, Baluchi had reckoned without the power of the Gulf Stream, which pulled him off course and left him lost in the open seas.

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